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" Local districts receive resources based on clear, data-driven formulae that can be independently verified (by third-party civil society groups)." Shanta: I am sure you are fully aware there are no "thrid-party civil society groups" in Ethiopia.
Anyway, there is no question that the corrupt and dictatorial regime in Addis can improve the "material" life of the average Ethiopian AS LONG AS the World Bank, EU, USA and even China continue to provide the billions a year. As noted above, others like Cuba has done the same with NO western support, let alone with the amount that has been pouring into Ethiopia for the last 19 years. The west is helping the regime in Addis build and strengthen a stalinist, centralized, top-down, dictatorial system.
This system stifels the average farmers incentive to improve his lot since he does not own the land and is at the mercy of the local cadre to get any of the inputs for his farming. The private sector in Ethiopia is crippled by the, mafia style, government "party" owned businesses in just about every sector of the economy.
The Ethiopian people want a democratic system. They want liberty, and yes, they want to be able to feed themselves. This paternalistic and racist attitude displayed by the west that this government is better than the last one and therfore lets provide it billions and beg it to not kill it's own people has to end. It is simply immoral. In a pervers way I see world bank econmists in D. C. like the pentagon bureaucrats during Vietnam showing their statistics on how successful the war effort was. The Ethiopian regime has learned to effectively play the numbers game. However, the reality is those numbers don't mean squat for the 13 million Ethiopians that are starving.
Shanta: Please stop and imagine what a democratic Ethiopia can do with the support this regime is getting.
BTW, nice blog.
Gabriel